Martijn Keizer missed the victory in the prologue of the Tour de l’Eurométropole on Wednesday by just three seconds. Only Alexis Gougeard (AG2R La Mondiale) was faster than the Team LottoNL-Jumbo time trialist over the 7.7-kilometre time trial.

“When you’re that close, it’s very annoying to finish second,” Keizer said after the race.

“Gougeard profited from racing the Vuelta, just as I did. I knew that he would be able to deliver a good prologue.

“I did the best I could over a very tough course. I spread my energy evenly as possible, but someone was faster. It’s a big disappointment. I was looking forward to this day since the Vuelta. This should’ve been my day, but I was the second best.”

"This is not luck," he told Directvelo. "I was in the lead for a long time. I did an excellent time. I opted for a 54 and it was the right choice. The course is challenging enough with the wind and with the climb of Mont Saint-Aubert. After the Vuelta, I was really focused on this prologue. 

"We will see for the next few days what I can do. It is a long season. It is not always easy to control the race. There is some pressure that has been taken off my shoulders. We clearly target a stage win with our sprinters, Moreno Hofland and Tom Van Asbroeck. "

“Martijn aimed for the first victory of his career,” Sports Director Erik Dekker added. “He was very close. The first two riders were close to each other, with a big difference to the others. Martijn did a good job and put us in a great position for the rest of the week.”

Sprinter Tom Van Asbroeck time trialled to a top result, as well. He placed 14th at 29 seconds.

“He did a great job as well,” Dekker continued. “But he has to win three stages to earn enough bonus seconds to win the overall. We’re starting that game of seconds tomorrow, and we will see what it brings us. We started this race well thanks to Martijn’s performance.”